After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” (John 19:28)

This was the only indication the Lord Jesus gave of his physical suffering, while other sayings emphasise his spiritual suffering. All four gospel authors (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) record that He was offered vinegar (“sour wine”) to drink.

John writes that this was “that the scripture might be fulfilled”.

Why did he write that?

In Psalm 69 David writes of rejection, humiliation and sorrow in a way that, while coming from his own experience, has an emotional depth that can only refer to the suffering of the Messiah.

In saying “I thirst“ the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the suffering Messiah. Any Jewish hearer around the cross, and any subsequent careful reader of the Bible would recall that the Psalm states:

“for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” (Psalm 69:21)

Other scriptures link closely: in Psalm 22 one can almost experience the thirst, suffering and abandonment of verse 15:

“…my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” (Psalm 22:15)

If the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the Messiah, what does His fulfilment of those scriptures imply for you and me? Surely nothing else than He is the One who fulfilled the words of Isaiah chapter 53, verse 5:

“But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Have you responded to Him as Saviour, or do you remain unmoved?